John Coppola has guided the South Brunswick High School girls lacrosse team to very successful seasons during his first three years on the job. Now that the freshman class that he started with are seniors, there's no reason to stop the success now.
South Brunswick was 19-2 last year and a perfect 12-0 in the division. South Brunswick was the Greater Middlesex Conference division champion last year. It also won the GMC Tournament. South Brunswick enters the upcoming season as the two-time defending champion in both its division and the GMC Tournament.
Looking at the success of last year and his current roster, Coppola is excited about the season.
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"The outlook is bright for the 2011 South Brunswick Vikings," Coppola said.
Among the brightest are four senior captains -- Jenna Bussiere, Kristen Cooney, Dana Piemonte and Blaire Nathanson.
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"The squad has excellent leadership under the four senior captains," Coppola noted.
Those girls provide leadership on and off the field. They all are entering their third or fourth year as a starter.
Bussiere, a midfielder, had 62 goals and 12 assists last year. Cooney, a midlfielder/wing, had six goals and six assists. Nathanson, a goalie, was 33-5 last year. She allowed an average of 7.6 goals a game and had 9.2 saves a game. Nathanson is helped out in goal by the play of Piemonte, a talented defender.
While the quartet of captains is a great start, the talent just keeps coming. Angie Goff, a senior that plays on the attack, would be almost the entire offense on a lot of teams. Goff had 37 goals and 23 assists last year.
Casey Armstrong, a junior that plays attack; Kelly O'Brien, a junior that plays on the midfield, and Cara Bagley, a junior that plays on the attack, are also talented offensive players. Armstrong had 28 goals and 10 assists last year. O'Brien had 25 goals and 21 assists last year. Bagley had 14 goals and nine assists.
Kelly O'Loughlin (a junior D-wing), Julie Curcio (a junior defender), Olivia Kaczowski (a junior -D-wing) and Elle Hvozdovic (a sophomore that plays attack/midfield) are also returnees on the team.
The top newcomers are Lauren Quigley (a senior defender), Emily Broxmeyer (a junior that plays attack), Danielle St. Vincent (junior), Rachel Shaffer- (a junior that plays midfield/D-Wing), Marissa Cavett (a sophomore that plays attack), Nicole Deinzer (a sophomore midfielder) and AnneMarie Rolwood (a sophomore that plays attack/midfield).
"The Vikings return a host of key players from last year's undefeated division and two-time GMC Championships in as many years," Coppola said. "The Vikings hope to take home their third GMC championship in a row, while making their mark in state tournament play as well this season."
The first step in the path of those goals will come when South Brunswick opens the season at Councol Rock on Apr. 1. The homer opener will be Apr. 5 against South Plainfield.
